Encore Global Management LP Takes $4.10 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Encore Global Management LP purchased 25,550 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $4.10 million, making PANW its sixth-largest holding at 2.9% of the portfolio. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 40 Buy, one Strong Buy, seven Hold and one Sell rating. The stock has an average target price of $331.48, while recent targets range from $300 to $425.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.85 versus $0.79 expected and revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year. However, insiders sold approximately $27.2 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Encore Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 25,550 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,096,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 2.9% of Encore Global Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $265.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reissued a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Argus set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.74, for a total transaction of $101,134.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,244,839.38. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $319.00 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $303.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.63. The stock has a market cap of $259.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 261.48, a P/E/G ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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